For Susan Marciano ’90, the idea of “ALL WORK AND NO PLAY” is inconceivable.

She channels a lifelong passion for sports and games of all kinds into her role as Vice President of Information Technology and Operations for GSN Games. 

The job is “a perfect fit for my competitive nature,” says Marciano, who played field hockey at Bentley while pursuing a degree in computer information systems. “I feel extremely fortunate that my personal and professional passions are able to intersect here.”

The company, which she joined in 2008, is a leading creator and publisher of social casino games, cash tournaments and casual games for online, social and mobile platforms. Offerings such as GSN Grand Casino, Bingo Bash, Bejeweled and Solitaire TriPeaks draw tens of millions of users worldwide.

Marciano oversees internal IT and facilities management, which includes e-mail, networks, office space and other productivity tools for employees, along with consumer-facing technology operations, which involves keeping GSN websites and services secure and accessible for online players. The work provides an adrenaline boost that Marciano remembers from her field hockey days.

“We start each morning saying, ‘This is what we’d like to accomplish today,’” she says. “However, fires spark up without notice, so we have to be ready to go into firefighting mode. We’re on call 24x7x365 to address business-critical and production issues.”

For example, a new code release might introduce a vulnerability that sends Marciano’s team to the rescue. They must quickly triage and determine the problem’s impact on internal or external systems, gauge whether the issue should be addressed immediately, and communicate to the rest of the company. All the while, they are keeping pace with regular IT and operations duties.

“It’s critical to balance the daily responsibilities with the disruptions, so employees are staying productive and players are playing,” she says, noting that the company has a work force of more than 400 people in nine offices. When she joined the firm (then called WorldWinner.com) there were 45 employees in a single office. “Keeping all the balls in the air, not letting any one of them drop, is the challenge.”

To juggle the demands of IT and operations, Marciano relies on skills she also leverages as a gamer. Here, she shares a few lessons culled from both worlds.

 

STRATEGY AND TIME MANAGEMENT

Large projects and long-term goals can be overwhelming. Marciano’s advice for her team? Don’t “boil the ocean.” In other words, break what they’re working on into components, then execute each to reach the end goal.

Many games require a similar approach. “There are obvious moves you can do with any of the match-three games. In Bejeweled or Candy Crush, you can do three matches all game long, bing-bing-bing, and you instantly get points,” she observes. “But setting up for a chain reaction will earn many more points. Scoring the most points comes from having a strategy … earlier moves that tie into the bigger picture later in the game.”
 

DECISION-MAKING

When any new situation or issue presents itself, it’s easy to fall back on past approaches to similar scenarios. But Marciano cautions that, in the IT and operations world — much like in gaming — the quickest decision isn’t always best.

“With technology always changing, you have to step back, assess and reassess any situation,” she says. “My whiteboard is often covered with notes and diagrams. We’re constantly looking at each scenario and brainstorming different paths to take.”

Games pose a parallel challenge. “Fun and engaging games challenge you with different boards and levels, getting progressively more difficult,” Marciano says. “Making knee-jerk moves can lead to ‘game over’ fairly quickly.

“So with our decision-making, we can’t always say, ‘Because we did something one way in the past, we’ll do it the same way today.’ The team is most successful when we gather all the data, historical and new, and evaluate the current situation. If that means we don’t have to reinvent the wheel, great. Otherwise, we execute a new plan accordingly.”
 

COLLABORATION

Online games may thrive on competition, but it’s collaboration that puts those games into play.

“Being a team player has always been a key part of who I am in the workplace,” Marciano says. “Here, as in sports, it’s critical to have a highly functional and effective team to be successful. It’s important to know you can rely on your fellow team members and they can rely on you.”

A winning team also needs the proper skillset for each position. “In field hockey, a goalie has very different skills from a forward,” says Marciano, who held the former position as a Falcon. “Hiring and building a team with the appropriate skillsets and experience is important for the work that needs to be accomplished.”

Marciano’s IT and operations teams are involved in everything from releasing new games and software to acquiring and installing new tools for employees. The work demands wide consultation up, down and across the organization.

“The company is very collaborative in how it’s structured,” she reports. Tasks such as making website changes and coordinating game releases call for cross-functional teams well versed in product development, quality assurance, design and operations; marketing, legal, finance and IT are often involved as well.

Consider the recent business continuity planning initiative that Marciano oversaw for GSN Games. She led a team of “custodians” — colleagues responsible for products, finance, human resources and other company functions — in discussing how to handle potential crises that might shut down their office location.

“We put together very detailed plans of each team’s business-critical responsibilities and how we would keep the company running smoothly in a time of crisis,” Marciano explains. “That was a great team exercise. Everyone gained insight on other teams’ responsibilities and how each function is vital to the organization.”

The team-player mentality has helped her move ahead as a female leader in the technology field. “As in any role,” she says, “navigating the space is about earning the respect, trust and confidence of your colleagues.”

 

PRIORITIZATION

Two online games that Marciano plays — Diner Dash and Cooking Fever — operate on similar premises. A player must serve a set of customers efficiently and keep them happy while balancing a number of tasks, including preparing food.

“With those games, you really have to prioritize,” she says. “The challenge is understanding the tasks that need to be done, and in what order.”

Ditto for the work on her plate at GSN Games. “I’m constantly reviewing my to-do list and prioritizing the tasks that are deadline driven,” she explains. “It’s all about juggling priorities and being flexible when circumstances or requests change.”

Understanding expectations is a big part of the prioritization process, Marciano adds. Her service-oriented groups receive constant technology-related requests for everything from procuring hardware to participating in code reviews. She tells them to ask one immediate, all-important question: When does it need to be completed?

“When that time element is missing in the request, there’s a high probability of missed expectations,” says Marciano, who began her career fielding requests on an IT help desk. “You can’t make assumptions, either that a task needs to be done ASAP or at a later time, which could be one day or one week. Clarifying the urgency will help you prioritize.”

The rapid fire of Diner Dash stresses out some people. Not Marciano.

“Operating in a fast-paced environment is in my comfort zone,” she says. “In field hockey, a goalie needs to be prepared for one shot after another in the midst of swinging sticks and blurred bodies; it’s often pure chaos until you clear the ball out of the circle. Staying calm and focused was key for me then and it’s key now to my team’s success.”

“ With technology always changing, you have to step back, assess and reassess any situation. We’re constantly looking at each scenario and brainstorming different paths to take.”